


We Could Be Heroes

by Freerangeegghead



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batwoman (TV 2019), DCU, Justice League - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Backstory, Cameos, Crossover, Drama & Romance, F/F, Fix-It of Sorts, Mystery, Other, Rescue Missions, guest - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 09:30:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21251204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freerangeegghead/pseuds/Freerangeegghead
Summary: In which Kate Kane gets a call about a cousin and an old girlfriend that changes her life and brings her back to the one place she swore she would never go back to again: Gotham.





	We Could Be Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> Rating: Rated T ~ M. Language. Violence. Assault. Drug use. Adult themes, no smut. Angst.
> 
> Warnings/Spoilers: Femslash. A/U. Mentions of canon. Spoilers for TV show.
> 
> Genre: General. Drama. A bit of everything.
> 
> Inspirations: Son of Batman, Titans (TV series), Batwoman (TV series), Dark Knight movies, Batman/Dark Knight comics, Dark Knight animation, Justice League (animated series), Justice League Unlimited (animated series), Batman Beyond (animated series), Titans: The Judas Contract, Doom Patrol, Arrowverse, Batman: Year Zero, Gotham (series), Batman: Gotham Nights, Justice League: Doom, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Watchmen (TV series), The Boys
> 
> Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing gained, prose all author’s. Give credit where credit is due though. (Please don't download and upload again and pass it off as your own.)
> 
> Author’s note: Big DC fan pre:Dark Knight, pre-DCU, circa Adam West. This ff is because Batman disappearing would've been a bigger deal than it is in the Batwoman show. Thought it would be fun to expand a bit on the backstories of the Batwoman CW version. Throwing everything but the kitchen sink here. Cameos may abound. Story will be batshit (pun intended) convoluted.Title taken from "Heroes" by the Wallflowers. You've been warned. Read at your own risk. Unbeta'ed. Mistakes mine.

Kate Kane hadn't planned on going back home to Gotham City just yet. In fact, she'd been planning to stay away from Gotham City for as long as she could. If she had her way she'd never go back at all. Ever. As it is, she hadn't finished her lessons with the master yet and she's almost pretty sure he's still got some new, sadistic ways to torture her and call it some bullshit transcendent spiritual lesson on patience and strength and endurance or some bullshit like that.

But then she receives two calls in the middle of some such lesson and it changes her life.

***

She receives the calls that day she almost drowned in the icy depths of the river.

The first call was from Dick Grayson, her cousin Bruce Wayne's adopted son. Or at least that's what she refers to Grayson as, having been unable to categorize the young man as anything but that. Grayson's parents had been killed in some freak circus accident, leaving Grayson the sole surviving member of the famous Grayson trapeze act. Bruce had taken him in, fed him, clothed him, put him through school. The young man had grown up with Bruce as his surrogate father and he sometimes had that brusque, no-nonsense demeanor her cousin had. And yet his familiar voice, millions of miles away, makes her feel less homesick somehow.

He'd called with no greetings or small talk, just a terse and cryptic statement. "Bruce is missing."

She'd felt herself shrug as she shivered in her too thin towel inside the make-shift tent. She idly scratches on her tattooed arm as she glances at her master. The master, a phlegmatic bald-headed man in a robe, looks on in amusement, clearly enjoying her discomfort. Fuck him. She wants to flip him off but that would mean getting kicked out of the place she'd worked hard getting into and she didn't want that.

"So?"she'd asked into the satellite phone. "He's disappeared before." Perks of being a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, she thinks. He could go off and disappear and it would be okay because he has loads of money at his disposal.

Grayson isn't having any of it. "Yeah, but this feels different somehow. I mean, Alfred called me about it. And Alfred never calls me unless it's an emergency."

Kate narrows her eyes. "Then who the fuck was that guy on television the other day at the press conference for Wayne Enterprises launching some new partnership with the Crows or Gotham PD or whatever?"

"Alfred, CGI, holograms, a combination of some sick tech at Wayne Manor," Grayson says. "Anyway, was hoping you could help."

"Grayson," Kate begins. "I'm....millions of miles away...on the other side of the world. How the fuck do you think I could help? You guys fucking work together."

Grayson pauses, a pregnant pause filled with so many things unsaid. She'd had a vague recollection of some fallout between her cousin and the boy fairly recently, mentioned by her father, Jacob Kane, in one of his emails that Kate has never bothered replying to.

Grayson speaks again. He says, softly, "Yeah, but you guys were close. I wouldn't normally ask you but...I was hoping you'd know where he is."

That gives Kate pause. She had been close to Bruce. Bruce was an only child and had reveled in having someone younger around. Bruce enjoyed having her and her twin sister, Beth, around. Beth. A pain, like a knife twisting in her chest, shoots through her and she stops herself from gasping. Beth had been gone for years now but the pain is still there. She swallows it down, focuses on the present. They never found the body. She'd had to cope with that loss until now. Now Bruce. Bruce. If Bruce is also missing...

Bruce. He's always been there for her. When the accident had happened, he'd been there for her, too. Over the years, as she went from one private school to the next, expelled for unruly behavior, or for saying one too many things to a nun (it's always a nun), and in university, when she'd been on the brink of another expulsion for a party gone bad (a girl, someone she'd actually slept with, OD'd in a party and almost died) her father had decided enough is enough. He'd pulled her out of college and into military school. And as her resentment for her father grew, so did the distance between her, her stepmother, stepsister and cousin. She'd remembered Bruce coming for a visit once with Grayson and she'd joked, "Get me the fuck out of here!" Grayson had smirked then and Bruce, face never betraying anything, had smiled and said, in his deep, baritone voice, "You are where you're supposed to be."

And Kate had glared at Bruce then and said, "What the fuck, cuz, which fortune cookie did you get that fucking nugget of wisdom from?"

Bruce had looked at her curtly and said, "Language" as Grayson, standing behind Bruce, had mouthed the same thing at her with a hint of mischief in his eye.

"Mr.Wayne!" Somebody calls her cousin and as Bruce turns, talks to him, Kate gives Grayson the finger as she mouths "Fuck you" and Grayson grins and mutters, "Bite me."

When Bruce gets back to talking to his cousin, Kate whines, "I can't believe being forced to wake up at 0400 to do push-ups in the fucking rain, eat shit for breakfast, learn about how some dead old dudes won some fucking war, run around the school til I puke then wake up and get to do the same thing all over again the next day constitutes fun in this place."

There's a flicker of a genuine smile on Bruce's face - which, for Bruce, is a big deal.

  
Then a girl in a gray academy shirt jogs by and both Kate and Grayson turn and stare at her as she jogs past.

"Oh, it can't be all that bad, Kane," Grayson mutters as he openly stares at the olive-skinned girl.

The girl catches Kate's eye and smiles and Kate feels her heart thud against her chest. Kate nods and quirks one part of her lips with a smile. Grayson looks from one to the other and knits his eyebrows in confusion. He looks at Kate then, as if Kate were an algebraic equation that needed to be solved and is about to say something but decides against it. If Bruce has noticed what has transpired between the jogging girl, Kate and Grayson, he doesn't say anything.

But what he does say is this: "Like I said, you're exactly where you're supposed to be."

***

She remembers this now and tells Grayson, "Grayson I don't know where my cousin is, but if something comes up, I'll let you know."

A pause. As if Grayson is debating with himself. Then a sigh. "Alright. If you hear anything, just...let me know." Another pause. Then, as if having decided on something, Grayson says, "We need him back, Kate. Gotham isn't the same without him. I just...need to know the old man is safe."

She hears it then. How worried and distraught Grayson is, beneath the calm, macho exterior. She feels it then, too, the affection, the sense of obligation, the concern for her cousin. Bruce was, afterall, like a father to Grayson, whether Grayson cared to admit it or not.

Kate searches for the words to assure Grayson. But she knows Grayson doesn't need bullshit ra-ra words from her. What she does say is, "Alright.

Grayson senses the conversation is over and so he also says, "Alright. I'll talk to you soon."

"Later, Grayson."

"Later, Kane."

As she punches the end call button, the monk looks at her and says, "Boyfriend?"

Fuck him, seriously. "No."

***

The second call comes from her stepsister, Mary, who takes the time to inform her it's Mary, her stepsister.

"mary, your mom has been married to my dad for over ten years, you don't have to identify yourself as Mary my stepsister all the fucking time," Kate says, genuine affection beneath the words.

'Oh, right," Mary says and Kate can almost see the other girl nervously smoothing down her coat or her skirt or something.

Nervousness. She could hear it in Mary's voice.

"Mary, what is it?" she asks.

A pause. As if Mary is composing her next words. "Sophie...they took Sophie...I...I thought you should know..."

Kate freezes. Sophie...

All it takes is for someone to mention her name and it takes her back to the academy again and how it was before it all went to hell.

***

Sophie looked like she hadn't belonged at the academy.

That was Kate's first impression.

The other plebes made sure to remind her of that. She seemed weak, and frail and unable to keep up with the others. Their commander made sure to remind her of that, too.

When they went through obstacle courses and she slipped down the rope, or slid down the wall or fell down on the mud, the other cadets would laughingly tell her to give up, the academy was no place for a woman. A black woman at that. When she made a mistake at formation and had to do one hundred push ups for the whole unit. Or run laps around the track for some infraction or other or get slapped with latrine duty for sassing the commander, the others would say give it up, this ain't no place for a woman. At the gym, when she'd fallen too many times at the hands of the instructor or one of their classmates during self-defense, and the others would knowingly smirk, and their eyes say it all, "Give it up, you don't belong here" but just for good measure, whispers to her anyway as they file out of the gym.

Kate watches all this unfold and has this feeling this could get worse before it gets better.

And it does.

One early morning, at the showers, she'd taken an early morning one before breakfast, and she'd seen Sophie come in, tired but determined, get into another stall.

They come afterwards, in masks, and gray shirts and pants, as she is in the shower, one holding her arms, the other pushing her face to the wall, another one just standing there, reminding her yet again why she didn't belong in this academy, poor ghetto reject that she was, crackhead mom and abusive drug dealer dad, both in jail, brother shot by a cop in a drive by, foster care kid til she was old enough to apply for the academy. "It's bitches like you that make this academy look bad."

Kate doesn't know what possesses her that day. She'd never been one to defend the weak and the innocent. That's more Batman's deal. Not hers. He'd saved her once from a couple of thugs looking to mug her - rich, drunk girl who insisted on taking a walk down the seedier parts of Gotham, after that girl OD'ed in her party, and he'd come swooping on, knocking them out cold and she'd sobered up quick, was now pissed, because this was the same Batman who couldn't fucking save her mother and Beth, poor Beth screaming and screaming as the car plunged down the river, she still has nightmares about it even with years and years of expensive therapy - bullshit therapy she thinks - and so now she hates Batman, hates vigilantes, hates all that philanthropic, altruistic, get involved, make a difference, save a life bullshit. But she'd looked at Sophie's eyes then from across the stalls, eyes that were terrified and angry and determined to fight. Kate knew then Sophie couldn't fight them all. She closes her eyes, grabs a shirt and shorts, and steps out of stall.

***

"You don't want to do that," she says in that languid, relaxed, vaguely threatening way she does. She wishes she could sound more threatening, but when they turn to look at her, it seems to get the point across.

"Whaddya just say?" the leader, blonde, short hair, cold, ice blue eyes, muscular, drawls at her.

Kate snorts. It's always the fucking blondes. Looking at her then, Kate thinks this privileged bitch had it coming. She smirks. "Last time I checked, hazing was frowned upon in this academy...No, scratch that...it's illegal..."

Blonde,blue eyes glares at her. "Your point?"

Fuck this blonde's really fucking slow isn't she? Kate quirks an eyebrow. "My point is, you do this shit, and you can kiss your career goodbye."

"Are you threatening me?" the girl drawls.

Kate smirks. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I made it clear. Let the girl go, or you go back home with nothing."

Blonde girl pauses, as if processing this, before she sneers and says, "Wow, rich girl to the rescue, huh? Why, what's this fucking bitch n**** to you?"

Kate doesn't know why, but that last word ignites rage in her chest. Her temper flares. She clenches her hand into a fist.

"You shouldn't have said that," she says, advancing on the blonde.

The others had let Sophie go then and she'd scrambled to cover herself up with her towel but not before Kate catches a glimpse of smooth, dark thighs, a tight stomach, dark mound of curls between legs.

The blonde comes up to Kate. She's tall, taller than Kate, muscular and built like a Marine. She sees it coming even before the blonde brings out a fist to punch Kate. Kate quickly slides to the side, so that the blonde's fist connects with air, almost loses her balance, flares up in anger and tries to punch again. But Kate's fist already connects with the girl's side, hears bones crack as she does so. Another one comes up to her out of the corner of her eye, left side. She kicks at the blonde, ducks, punches the other one, grabs the third by an arm and slams a fist onto her face. The two stumble back, groaning in pain, the blonde doubled over, clutching her side. It's over quickly before it begins.

"What the fuck?" the blonde demands, groaning.

"What the hell's going on here?" A voice booms from behind.

Kate turns, sees the commander, shrugs nonchalantly. "Dunno. Diarrhea?"

The man looks at the three women on the ground, at Kate and Sophie, seems to be weighing the situation. Sure hazing's illegal, but that doesn't mean it's easy to control or stop. He thinks there's something going on here that would be best not to know. He nods then and says, "Alright, get outta here."

Kate smirks as he turns his back and marches on.

Sophie walks over them and mutters a "Thanks" to Kate.

Kate smiles her most charming killer smile. The smile that's made a lot of women swoon and want to sleep with her. Even the ones who claim they're straight.

"You're welcome," she says.

Sophie turns then and through gritted teeth, says, "You didn't have to do that. I could've handled it. You've just made it worse." Then she turns and walks away, leaving Kate stunned and stung as Sophie angrily mutters about rich, dumb white girls with white savior complex.

Kate thinks she's a little bit in love with this sassy, no nonsense girl.

***

Sophie is unimpressed with Kate. Like everything else, she'd been unimpressed with Kate swooping in to save her at the shower stalls. She'd been unimpressed with Kate's wealth, her connections (Bruce Wayne coming for a visit - Wayne Enterpises enjoyed a healthy relationship with the Department of Defense, had defense contracts with the military), her self.

Sophie ignored Kate. She ignored her when she passes her by in the hallway, when she sees her at the mess hall, during military drills and exercises, in classes they shared, in the library, even at the gym.

It puzzled Kate. Sophie is the first person to look at Kate and be completely uninterested in her. That stung Kate. That she'd been pissed that Kate had helped her at the bathroom stalls stung and puzzled Kate more. What was her problem?

When Sophie had made a mistake during drills and the drill sargeant had shouted "Drop and give me two hundred!" and Kate had dropped and tried to help her, Sophie had glared at her.

When she almost missed dinner and there'd been nothing left but gruel at the mess hall and Kate had gone and dropped an apple on Sophie's tray, Sophie had glared and dropped everything, including the uneaten apple, inside the trash bin.

Greetings and smiles and nods went unanswered, ignored and Kate starts to think she's found the one woman immune to the Kate Kane charm.

It perplexed Kate. Wonders what the other woman's problem is. Keeps her awake at night thinking about her.

So much so that one day, early in the morning, as she enters the gym for a quick workout before breakfast, she confronts Sophie about it. Sophie had seen her as she was doing a run on the treadmill. The minute she does, she punches at buttons, slows down, grabs at her towel and duffel bag and marches out, ignoring Kate's cordial "Good morning." On Sophie's way to the entrance, Kate grabs her arm and says, "Hey, what's your problem?"

Sophie looks at her then, then glances at her hand on Sophie's arm, and Kate lets go. Kate notices beautiful caramel colored eyes, high cheekbones, a pretty mouth, all of which she wants to touch or kiss or both.

"You're my problem," Sophie retorts then and Kate quirks an eyebrow, amused, hardly a stranger to a woman's outburst.

It annoys Sophie more.

"Oh?" is what comes out of Kate's mouth, a slow smile spreading on her lips. The Bruce Wayne charm has nothing on the Kate Kane one, her mother had mentioned more than once.

Sophie just leaves in a huff, leaving Kate amused and puzzled even more.

***

Kate has to admit that at first it was the thrill of the chase. Sophie's the first girl to be able to resist her charms. It stung her ego a bit. But as she observes Sophie more, finds out more about her, Kate realizes that Sophie is her exact opposite. Driven, motivated, ambitious, laser focused, Sophie had risen from her cliché-ridden background to place top at her schools, bag a 4.0 GPA, snag a place at the academy. She's the first up at dawn, the last to sleep at night, studies diligently even at lights out, stays away from the parties on weekends and holidays, preferring to stay at the academy studying. Sophie always looked like there's something she can see that others can't, an object, a prize, something out of reach, that if she just kept going, she'd eventually reach it. In some ways, Kate knew the feeling. Except she wasn't running towards something, she was running away from something.

Once, Kate had found a path in the trees, in the forest that surrounded the academy and she'd taken to jogging on weekends if and when she can. Running amongst the trees relaxed her. In the middle of that fresh air, cool breeze blowing through her, blue skies above, birds twittering, she felt free, felt a clarity that being inside the four walls of the academy, with its suffocating rules and uniforms and everything, could never provide her. She'd been jogging a few minutes and already she could feel the sweat trickling down her back, making her gray military issue shirt cling to her, beads of sweat sliding down her forehead and the sides of her face. Her face is flushed, she's out of breath, heart pounding against her chest. It feels good, she thinks. It makes her feel alive. She leans against a tree to catch her breath and that's when she sees Sophie running down the path, in identical gray shirt and shorts, running as if her life depended on it, hair tied back in a ponytail. Kate quirks an eyebrow, grins and follows her.

***

"Hey," she says, in between puffs of breath as she jogs up to Sophie.

Sophie is startled out of her reverie, but she turns, sees Kate and mutters, "Hey."

"Morning," Kate says then, "Beautiful day for a jog, huh?"

In those days, or at least with Sophie, Kate wore her heart on her sleeve. Anyone, if they looked closely enough, could see so plainly that Kate liked Sophie, even if Kate herself didn't admit it fully to herself yet.

Sophie had stopped then, checks her pulse, out of breath, before she says, "Something you need, Kane?"

Kate only smiles and shakes her head, loving the heat and nearness of Sophie. This close, she could see the beads of sweat trickling from her high cheekbones, the ones pooling on her upper lip, could see the muscles on display on arms, and thighs, could still see an image of Sophie briefly naked in the shower, wonders how it would feel like for Sophie to be naked and underneath her, writhing and thrusting against her, moaning her name and coming in her mouth. Kate almost blushes at the thought but she looks squarely in Sophie's caramel eyes and says, "No, just the pleasure of your company."

Sophie doesn't seem to know how to respond to that, and so the only thing she says is, "Try and keep up."

They jog in silence for awhile before Kate finally says, "So, how do you find the academy so far?"

Sophie doesn't say anything at first before she comments "Small talk. Bold."

"Wow, she speaks. For a while there I almost thought you were gonna ignore me. Again."

Sophie stops. "What do you want, Kane?"

Kate stops, surprised, unused to someone getting right to the point. She shrugs then. 'Nothing. I just..."

Sophie sighs. "You saved me from those jerks. Thank you..I'm sorry I blew off on you, but I still stand by my earlier statement that I could have handled myself."

"Not the conversation I expected but do go on..."

"I'm not...here to make friends, Kane," Sophie continues. "I'm here to learn and graduate and get a job after. I can't be distracted by anything. So whatever this is or was it has to stop and it has to stop now."

This surprises Kate. Sophie is aware at least that there's something there. Even acknowledges it. But she opts to tease her instead and says, "Presumptious. Bold."

Sophie is, in turn, surprised. "I'm sorry?"

Kate just smiles. "If you think I'm looking to hook up..."

Sophie shakes her head. "I'm not thinking of anything, Kane. Least of all you."

Burn. That has to hurt. And yet she can't help but think that maybe Sophie thinks about her, too.

"But I've seen your kind. You get off on the thrill of the chase. Just wants to know just how long it takes to fuck someone before you fuck them over. Don't think I don't know about the girls you've slept with...or that one girl who OD'ed because of you..."

The smile on Kate's face falters. But she gallantly soldiers on. "Ah, my reputation seems to precede me."

Sophie smiles but it's an empty, mirthless smile. "It sure does," she says flatly. She takes a step toward Kate then, so much so that not only does Kate see flecks in her caramel colored eyes, she could also smell mint and coconut and grass and sun. "I'm not like the other girls, Kane. You pull that shit on me, I'm gonna kick your ass so bad your rich daddy' won't know what to do with you."

Kate smiles. "Fine. That's fair. But we'd make a good team. Just saying."

Sophie shakes her head, exasperated. Without another word, Sophie turns around without turning around to see of Kate is following, leaving Kate speechless, not knowing what to do.

But then, Sophie stops, turns and says, "What are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"Don't just stand there, Kane," Sophie says then. "I need a sparring partner for gym. C'mon."

***

Kate thinks about this now as she packs her bag, tossing whatever meager possessions she has in her backpack and army duffel bag. Sophie'd been difficult then, but Sophie was hers. Is hers. Whatever happened between them, the fallout from DADT, the difficult choice of choosing between the academy and Kate, between disgrace and a career with the military, turning her back on them, there is still that implicit understanding that no matter where Kate is, no matter what she is doing, when it comes to Sophie, she would still do anything for her.

That, and her cousin missing, seem like good enough reasons to go back to the one place she's sworn she'll never go back to til she's good and ready.

"Going somewhere?"

The voice is that of her master.

She doesn't turn as she says, "Yep."

The master waits for more but when he realizes nothing is forthcoming, he asks "Might I ask where?"

Kate lifts her backpack, turns and says, "Home."

Home. She hadn't thought about going home in years. But right now, telling it to her master, she knows it's the right time.

Her master doesn't say anything at first before he slowly smiles. "Very well. I have nothing more to teach you. I have taught you all that I know." He slowly bows, smiles at Kate. "You are free to go. It has been an honor to have taught you."

Kate stops, bows and says, "The honor is all mine, master."

"Go in peace."

***

The journey is long and arduous and tedious, down the cold, icy mountains bordering Nepal and Tibet, past small villages and towns and narrow passes covered in snow, past valleys and rice fields and temples and checkpoints and cities, til she finally makes it to a city, gets a flight ticket and gets on the first flight home.

She'd gone in search of Nanda Parbat then but had found something else entirely. Bruce had suggested the place, had told her if she ever got tired of Gotham or the academy, that maybe she could find what she was looking for in Nanda Parbat. Bruce was, is and has always been a man of few words. But what he had was a knack for the uncanny, for observation, for logic and deduction. His IQ at school had been freakily off the charts. He always seemed to be one, two steps ahead of other people, could read people like a book, prepared for everything with contigencies, understood people with an uncanny ability that freaked everyone, including Kate. He'd understood then, at that point, what Kate needed, without benefit of Kate saying anything.

When Kate had been kicked out of the academy, Nanda Parbat had been her first destination. But Bruce had not given directions and she hadn't wanted to pry. What she did have were memories of Bruce's stories, travels he's had. So she'd gone to India, to learn to walk on hot, burning coals, to Brazil, where she'd learned not only jujitsu but also to control her emotions from a large man who would scream "Emocion!" at her over and over again as he slapped her to help her control her temple. She'd gone to a Shaolin monk deep in the Himalayas to discover the secrets not only of martial arts but also of the universe. She'd tried as much as she can take to learn as much as she can. She'd like to think she's changed now and could handle things better. Going back to Gotham will tell her if she's ready to face her life again.

***

Sophie had kissed her first.

She remembers that.

They'd been sparring, just the two of them, at the gym, late at night, doors closed, and Kate had been egging her on all night. Kate had, by then, stopped trying to get her attention and just focused on surviving the academy. As it happens, Sophie needed a sparring partner. She'd reluctantly asked Kate if she wanted to be her sparring partner and the other one had smirked and said, "Okay."

"You hit like a girl,' she'd taunted Sophie then as she ducked her punches. When Sophie's punch had missed again, Kate had ducked, slid to Sophie's side and punched her on the side. She could hear the other woman grunt. "C'mon, stop trying to hit me and just fucking hit me."

That annoyed Sophie. She remembers that. Too easy. When Sophie gets annoyed, she gets distracted, and when she gets distracted, she loses focus and when she loses focus, she lets her guard down. She tells Sophie so.

"What are you, some fucking sensei or shit?" Sophie asks as she tries to hit Kate again.

Kate ducks, moves to the side to avoid Sophie's punch, grabs her arm, and punches her on the side. But Sophie moves, tries to put off-balance and they end up falling on the mat instead. They land with a thud, Kate landing on her back on the mat grimacing, Sophie on top of her.

"Ow," is all Kate manages to say.

"Are you hurt?" Sophie asks.

Kate swallows, says, "No, I think the mat broke my fall."

Sophie grins. "You're such an asshole."

Kate grins back. And then there's a moment of awkward silence between them, Sophie looking at her eyes, when Kate realizes Sophie is between her legs, her chest.pressing against her, breath on her face, lips inches from hers. She briefly debates what she should do but then Sophie says, "You have pretty eyes."

Kate's smile fades away. "So do you."

Sophie's hand tentatively reaches out to trace a finger on Kate's cheekbone and before either one knows it, Sophie is kissing her, hesitantly at first, then full on kissing her, tongue probing and caressing and gentle.

Kate's hands come up to hold Sophie's face then, but Sophie reluctantly withdraws, panic on her face, and says, "I...I'm sorry...I...I should go..."

And she runs out of the gym like her life depended on it.

Kate had followed her. Followed her out into the woods. It's late, it's evening, the other cadets sleeping or studying.

"Sophie..."

"Please leave me alone..."

"Sophie, where the fuck are you going? It's late, let's go back,"Kate patiently says. She looks up, sees a full moon, spots an abandoned cabin a few yards away, hidden by the trees. Was it there before? She sees Sophie heading towards it. She follows.

Sophie doesn't say anything until they get to the cabin. She paces around the doorstep and Kate comes up to her, watches her, folds her arms infront of her and follows her with her eyes.

"What's going on?"

Sophie doesn't speak at first, before she says, "I kissed you."

Kate shrugs. "Yeah, so?"

Sophie looks at her, annoyed. "I kissed you and I'm not supposed to and there's just so many things that could go wrong and I could get expelled and I'd have to start from scratch and I don't know if I can get a job and..."

"Sophie, I'm pretty sure you can get a job," Kate says.

"Kane, you don't understand..."

"What?"

Sophie stops pacing, stands infront of Kate and says, "I'm not supposed to like you..."

"Um...okay..."

"I'm not supposed to like you. There's...a ten year plan, a timeline, a goal I've set out to achieve and you're a distraction..."

Kate slowly digests this,before realizing what Sophie is trying to say. "You like me."

Sophie nods. "I'm not supposed to like you, Kane...it's different for you. You don't need to be here. You have a rich family. Your dad can give you a job if this doesn't work out. Me? I don't make good here, I'm out on my ass on the streets. And I can't...I don't want to go through that anymore. Not again."

In an instant, it clicks for Kate, what Sophie's trying to say, and her expression softens, and she reaches out and holds Sophie. "Hey, hey, it's going to be alright. It's going to be okay."

And Sophie's crying then, silent tears and Kate's rubbing her back and crooning in her ear and then, before she knows it, Sophie's lips are on hers and they've kicked the door open, slammed it shut and Sophie's on top of her, naked and coming on her fingers and her mouth and Kate realizes then she's in love with this girl and will do anything to protect her. Anything.

***

The Gotham skyline looms in the gray, early morning sky. Kate is roused from her reverie by the pilot announcing they're landing in a few minutes. As Kate buckles up, she grips her chair. She'll help Grayson find her cousin, find out what happened. But more than that, she will get Sophie back. She doesn't know how she'll do it but by hook or by crook she will get Sophie back. She doesn't care what it takes. And whoever got her? Is going to pay.

**Author's Note:**

> Like the story so far? Leave a comment or kudos. Thanks for reading.
> 
> Come check me out on wattpad. :-)


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